Common FTP errors

The most common FTP errors are related to incorrect login details supplied or an issue with the hosting server or the internet service provider. In most cases you will see Could not connect to server, but exact errors will vary depending on the issue.

"530 Sorry, but I can't trust you" - This error indicates that the directory which you are trying to access is no longer present on the server. You should check your FTP accounts from cPanel to see the exact path of your directory or create it if not present.

"EAI_NONAME - Neither nodename nor servname provided, or not known" - The specified server hostname (or IP address) is not correct and the connection could not be established. You should again verify your FTP login details within your My Accounts tab at the Information & Settings page.

"ECONNREFUSED - Connection refused by server" - You can see this error if you are using incorrect FTP port number. The FTP port number that you should use is 21.

"FTP connection timed out" - This most often happens when your Internet Service Provider is blocking the FTP port - port 21. More information on how to check if a port is blocked can be found here.

Another cause for this issue is if you are not using Passive mode with your FTP client. You can refer to the documentation of your FTP client for instructions how to change that.

Additionally, if you are use your domain as an FTP host to connect to, it might not be resolving properly. You can try to use your account's IP or the server hostname instead. SiteGround customers can find either in their User Area -> My Accounts -> Information & Settings, under the hosting account you are connecting to.

"Your bandwidth usage is restricted" - This message means that there is a bandwidth restriction for all FTP connections to the server.

This restriction prevents FTP transfers from taking a big part of the network bandwidth and slowing down the rest of the connections to the server.

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